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United States / Grow / chokecherry

chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
Photo: (c) Kieran Hanrahan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

chokecherry

Prunus virginiana · Rosaceae · all Prunus records · Wikipedia

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On prunus virginiana, Prunus virginiana joins Cone calorimeter testing of. Prunus virginiana then and 1 ecological invasive for prunus virginiana. The banner is not the whole file on prunus virginiana. Prunus virginiana keeps Cone calorimeter testing with 1 ecological invasive for prunus virginiana.

On prunus virginiana, Prunus virginiana also carries hardiness rows for prunus virginiana. On prunus virginiana, Prunus virginiana also carries cured, green test condition for prunus virginiana.

Use evidence on prunus virginiana for prunus virginiana. Use hardiness on prunus virginiana for prunus virginiana. Prunus virginiana keeps the sourced table for prunus virginiana.

Form
shrub
Mature height
~25 ft
Water need
moderate
Rated in
Alaska; Arizona above 3,000 feet / interior Southwest; British Columbia; Colorado, California, and northeastern United States +14
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions
2 conditions stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Placement evidence
8 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions
Alaska; Arizona above 3,000 feet / interior Southwest; British Columbia; Colorado, California, and northeastern United States; Fremont County, Wyoming; Global; Maine; Michigan / Great Lakes; Montana / Northern Rockies; Nevada / Great Basin; New Mexico; Oregon; Pacific Northwest (Oregon / Washington / Idaho); Wyoming; Yavapai County, Arizona; eastern US; north-eastern and mid-Atlantic United States; southern Idaho / Intermountain
Typed publication scope: 12 scopes across 12 cited fire sources
  • Protect Your Home from Wildfire — Fire Resistant Vegetation and Landscaping · Official scoped edition
    • AK; partial normalized coverage · 2005-04-27

      Alaska Division of Forestry opens with the wildfire threat to Alaskans and publishes Alaska firewise-landscape examples. FireApproved publishes 58 exact source owners from its 60 taxon entries and holds the taxon-free fern label. State publication scope does not establish suitability for every Alaska climate, site, or home-ignition-zone placement.

  • Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter · Official scoped edition
    • Northeastern and mid-Atlantic study sites (ME, MD, MA, NY, VA footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2007-08-20

      The authors collected foliage and twigs across study sites in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia, then conditioned and tested the samples in a cone calorimeter. FireApproved publishes 37 exact source owners only as multi-state laboratory context. The source does not establish that every taxon was sampled in every named state, whole-plant behavior, landscape suitability, or state planting guidance.

  • Fremont County Firewise Plant List · Official scoped edition
    • Fremont County (WY footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2011-02-25

      The source identifies itself as the Fremont County Firewise Plant List. FireApproved publishes its 92 exact source owners as Fremont County regional context. No methodology, current county endorsement, statewide Wyoming scope, or site-specific suitability is inferred.

  • Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database · Official scoped edition
    • Southern Idaho (ID footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2013-11-08

      The official database labels itself "For Southern Idaho" and describes Idaho residents at the urban-rangeland interface. FireApproved publishes 419 existing plant owners that cite its scored rows. This bounded Southern Idaho scope is regional context, not statewide coverage or a conclusion that the score transfers unchanged to every Idaho site.

  • Maine fire-resistant plant list · Official scoped edition
    • ME; partial normalized coverage · 2013-10-23

      Maine Forest Service presents a partial list for landscaping 30-100 feet from a structure. FireApproved publishes only 39 unique exact current/accepted matches plus Rhus typhina from the source's explicit parenthetical; unresolved, abbreviated, misspelled, absent, and duplicate-owner rows remain held.

  • Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
    • MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01

      Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.

  • Fire-Resistant Plants for Montana Landscapes (MontGuide MT200101AG) · Official scoped edition
    • MT; partial normalized coverage · 2022-04-01

      The April 2022 MontGuide explicitly presents fire-resistant species adapted to Montana. FireApproved publishes 92 exact plant records from the source while retaining excluded genus, family, and unresolved rows; the guide itself says not every listed species grows in every part of the state.

  • FireWise Plant List for New Mexico · Official scoped edition
    • NM; partial normalized coverage · 2003-10-08

      New Mexico Forestry Division publishes this as its FireWise Plant List for New Mexico. FireApproved accounts for all 140 printed rows and publishes 95 exact same-rank owners already represented in the directory; 29 exact taxa without an existing record, 14 unresolved spellings or higher-rank matches, one compound taxon cell, and one species row whose only apparent owner has an infraspecific printed identity remain held. Every published row retains the source's Y, N, ?, or blank elevation cells. Publication scope does not erase those elevation limits or establish suitability for every New Mexico site.

  • FIREWISE Plant Materials for 3,000 ft. and Higher Elevations (AZ1289) · Official scoped edition
    • Arizona at or above 3,000 feet (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2011-12-01

      AZ1289 is explicitly limited to Arizona elevations of 3,000 feet and higher. FireApproved publishes 69 exact owners as regional Arizona context, retaining every water and elevation condition. It is never promoted to statewide low-desert guidance or an independent Tier 1 vote.

  • A Compilation of Good Plant Choices for Nevada's High Fire Hazard Areas (SP-05-16) · Official scoped edition
    • NV; partial normalized coverage · 2005-01-01

      University of Nevada Cooperative Extension compiled plants suited to Nevada climate zones and reported favorably by at least two upstream firewise lists. FireApproved publishes 126 exact source owners at Nevada publication scope. The source explicitly makes no independent flammability determination, so these rows remain corroborative.

  • Firewise Landscaping · Official scoped edition
    • WY; partial normalized coverage · 2005-04-01

      University of Wyoming Extension published these Firewise examples for its Wyoming rural-living audience and points readers to Firewise Wyoming. FireApproved publishes ten exact source owners while holding broad plant groups. State publication scope is not suitability across every basin.

  • Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) · Official scoped edition
    • Yavapai County (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2025-03-14

      University of Arizona Cooperative Extension authors Bulletin 34 for Yavapai County. FireApproved publishes 198 exact source owners from its resistant and prone tables and keeps the county boundary visible. County publication scope is regional Arizona context, never statewide scope.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution
Documented in AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
Native range
Current cited native range in AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.
USDA hardiness
3 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Reported invasive here
1 ecological invasive report.
How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

43

exact source areas

Current introduced

0

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

43 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04
  • Arkansas (AR)
  • Arizona (AZ)
  • California (CA)
  • Colorado (CO)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Delaware (DE)
  • Georgia (GA)
  • Iowa (IA)
  • Idaho (ID)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Indiana (IN)
  • Kansas (KS)
  • Kentucky (KY)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Maine (ME)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Minnesota (MN)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • Montana (MT)
  • North Carolina (NC)
  • North Dakota (ND)
  • Nebraska (NE)
  • New Hampshire (NH)
  • New Mexico (NM)
  • Nevada (NV)
  • New York (NY)
  • Ohio (OH)
  • Oklahoma (OK)
  • Oregon (OR)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • Rhode I. (RI)
  • South Dakota (SD)
  • Tennessee (TN)
  • Texas (TX)
  • Utah (UT)
  • Virginia (VA)
  • Vermont (VT)
  • Washington (WA)
  • Wisconsin (WI)
  • West Virginia (WV)
  • Wyoming (WY)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Recommends (14)

Corroboration (9 rows from 9 sources)

  • FireSmart BC Plant Program — fire-resistant plant chart — FireSmart BC · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: firesmart-bc-plant-database

    “FireSmart-approved fire-resistant plant”

  • A Compilation of Good Plant Choices for Nevada's High Fire Hazard Areas (SP-05-16) — University of Nevada Cooperative Extension · SP-05-16 (2005) · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: unr-tree

    “listed by at least two cited sources”

    Compilation marks: AZ1289, CSU 6.305, OSU FRN 6.

  • FIREWISE Plant Materials for 3,000 ft. and Higher Elevations (AZ1289) — University of Arizona Cooperative Extension · 2011 revision · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: csu-nmsu-firewise

    “listed FIREWISE plant material”

    Listed among fire-resistant plant materials for Arizona above 3,000 feet.

  • Fremont County Firewise Plant List — Fremont County Firewise · web page (server last-modified 2011-02-25) · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: unknown

    “Fremont County Firewise Plant List — Prunus virviniana melanocarpa — Western Chokecherry”

    Listed in the source's Large Shrubs and Trees section; the page describes its listed Firewise plants as generally low-growing, low-debris, and relatively moist.

  • Firewise Landscaping — University of Wyoming Extension, Barnyards & Backyards (Jody Walker, USDA NRCS) · Barnyards & Backyards, Spring 2005 · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: firewise-traits

    “FIRE-RESISTANT PLANTS — Examples: Chokecherry”

    The article prints this taxon as an example beneath its fire-resistant or Firewise-landscape guidance.

  • Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) — University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County · v1.2 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: unknown

    “Fire-Resistant Plants”

    Listed as Choke cherry — Prunus virginiana. The bulletin says fire-resistant plants tend to resist ignition when irrigated and maintained, while fire-prone plants may ignite readily and burn intensely.

  • Protect Your Home from Wildfire — Fire Resistant Vegetation and Landscaping — Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Community Forestry Program · April 2005 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: unknown

    “Following are a few of the plants that may be used in firewise landscapes in Alaska if placed and maintained appropriately.”

    Listed as Chokecherry — Prunus virginiana; the source conditions these examples on appropriate placement and maintenance.

  • FireWise Plant List for New Mexico — New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Forestry Division · 2003 Forestry Division PDF · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: csu-nmsu-firewise

    “FireWise Plant List for New Mexico”

    Listed as Prunus virginiana (Western chokecherry) in Trees and Large Shrubs. Printed elevation cells: 4,000 ft=?, 5,000 ft=Y, 6,000 ft=Y, 7,000 ft=Y, 8,000 ft=Y, 9,000+ ft=Y. Water need: H; sun/shade: S/PS; mature height: 10-30; approximate bloom: Apr.

  • Maine fire-resistant plant list — Maine Forest Service, Forest Protection Division · MFS-list-updated-2013-10-23 · original source Corroboration Compilation lineage: me-mfs-fire-resistant-plants

    “listed as fire-resistant for landscaping 30-100 feet from a structure” · original source

    Maine Forest Service includes Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) on its partial fire-resistant plant list for landscaping 30-100 feet from a structure. The printed scientific name is a unique current-name match to this record.

Mid-scale / conditional (2)

Listed without a rating (5)
Corroboration (4 rows from 1 source)

  • FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

    4 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.

    • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 3152.77”

      FLAMITS record 2884; Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device calorimeter; site Dibble2007-1; sampling ND. Primary study Dibble2007: Dibble, A. C., White, R. H., & Lebow, P. K. (2007). Combustion characteristics of north-eastern USA vegetation tested in the cone calorimeter: invasive versus non-invasive plants. International journal of wildland fire, 16, 426-443.

    • Primary study White2002: White, R. H., Weise, D. R., Mackes, K., & Dibble, A. C. (2002). Cone calorimeter testing of vegetation--an update. Ninth International Conference on Electrical and Electronic Products. Columbus, Ohio, USA.

      Shared row context: Combustibility measurement; plant part leaves; fuel live; device calorimeter; site White2002-2; sampling ND.

      • “maximum energy flux (kW/m²): 55”

        FLAMITS record 14145; predrying no.

      • Shared measurement context: predrying yes.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 3296.07”

          FLAMITS record 14198.

        • “calorific value (kcal/kg): 3726”

          FLAMITS record 14287.

Same genus in the directory · the Prunus group page

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/prunus-virginiana/. Last verified 2026-08-23.